Dear Reader,

Today's overview of economic news and market action:

• ECB hiked rates by 25bps yesterday, as expected …
• President Lagarde also guided that another 25bps can be expected in July …
• Elsewhere, BoJ left monetary policy on hold overnight …
• Currency-wise, the dollar remained under downward pressure …
• Sees EUR/USD open this morning up at the midpoint of $1.09-1.10 …
• GBP/USD is up above the $1.28 handle also …
• EUR/GBP remains at the halfway mark of 85-86p …
• Relatively quiet data schedule ahead today …

ECB hikes rates by a further 25bps, but not done yet

As had been widely expected, the June meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council saw the central bank raise rates by a further 25bps, pushing the key deposit rate up to 3.5%.

Fed leaves rates unchanged, but a further hike seems likely

As had been widely expected, the Fed left US rates unchanged at the conclusion of its policy meeting yesterday, maintaining the target range for the funds rate at 5.0-5.25%.

The Full Picture

The scale of Irish contract manufacturing, whereby a company based in Ireland engages a firm abroad to manufacture products on its behalf, has grown enormously since 2015.